Learning
by EdwardClone13
Summary: There were so many things that Rex didn't know about his friend, Noah. But time has a way of bringing these facts to light. And by learning more about Noah, Rex can't help but begin to understand a bit about himself as well.
1. Meeting the Family v1

Hello hello hello! This is Jay speaking and I just want to wish everyone reading this a fond greeting and a grateful thank you for choosing to read this story! I was debating whether putting this up early since the rest of these are not finished, but I thought "Since I'm rewriting this specific drabble anyway, what's the harm?" So, think of this as a teaser for the rest of my series, simply known as 'Learning'.

But, before we begin, I would just like to say thank you to the many genius authors I have had the pleasuring of stumbling across and indulging in their fantastic works. These writers have inadvertently influenced me to greater heights, and I wish to give tehm their due. These authors are not limited to the Generator Rex fandom, but I have met one from this fandom who makes me want to cry do to inadequacy. Her name is Sirenitie, and I have fallen in love with her depiction of Noah and Rex's relationship. To those who are taking the time to read my story(which is exceedingly boring in comparsion), please go and look her up! She has four stories and all are absolutely spectacular!

Now, we continue on, da?

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><p><strong>Meeting the Family<strong>

**April 27****th****, 5 N.E.**

**Words: 3327 not including A/N**

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><p>"Rex, what are you doing here?" Noah hissed, bright gray eyes glaring around a chained apartment door at the Hispanic E.V.O. "You told me you were going to be on a mission today!"<p>

"And, according to Six, you should be at school right now," Rex retorted, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Our mission ended early because the underlings were actually useful for once and I didn't have to get my ass beat by an E.V.O. before curing it. And, seeing as you shouldn't have been home for at least two hours, I thought I'd surprise you!"

The cheerful response earned Rex a baleful look. "Rex. You know as well as I do that I don't live here." Noah's face was screwed into a nasty look. "The only way you'd even be here is if you tracked me or something." The door slammed shut in the black-haired teen's face.

"Ah, wait!" Rex shouted, sticking his foot in the doorway, cringing as the thick wooden door dug mercilessly into tender flesh. "Noah, I just need a place to stay for a couple hours! Holiday wants to stick a bunch of needles in me! Help, please?" The boy begged, making sure to put on his biggest, most tearful—not that the tears were all fake, Rex was sure that he would have bruises before Noah relented—puppy pout.

Before Noah could make some scathing comment—a response Rex knew was coming his way, he could tell by the way the corners of the blonde's eyes crinkled just so—a loud voice one could only associate with a child cried out, "Noah! Grace stole my graham crackers!"

"Nuh uh! These are _my_ graham crackers, Ian!"

"No, you ate _your_ graham crackers already! These are mine!"

The two children started to scream at each other, voices growing louder and higher pitched as the argument continued. Then, the girl began to cry—both Noah and Rex winced at the racket they were making. A door further down the hall slammed open and an older man with a buzz cut stuck his head out. "Rylander, I swear to God, if you don't shut those damn brats up I'm gonna shut them up for you!" He shouted. "This is the third time today!"

Noah's eyes narrowed and he unlatched the chain before jerking his own door open. "Move," he growled, nodding Rex in. The tan boy didn't hesitate. He wanted to avoid any conflicts with normal civilians—the injured civilian from the mob caused by Hunter Cain was still a touchy subject. As Rex backed out of the way, Noah stepped out and faced the irritated man, arms crossed over his chest. "How many times are you gonna threaten my siblings before I have to call the police, Kurovsky? Maybe if you pulled your head outta your ass you'd realize that they're just kids and will be quiet in a couple minutes!"

"What did you just say, punk?" Kurovsky demanded, stalking out of his own apartment and towards Noah, whom he towered over by nearly a foot and outweighed by well over a hundred pounds—most of that weight came from the almost grossly large muscles twitching under the man's skin. Rex immediately moved to stand behind Noah, putting a restricting hand on the blonde's shoulder. The fuzz-headed man's glaring eyes moved between the two before a sick grin twisted his face into an ugly mask. "Oh, are you going to sic your pet E.V.O. on me? Or are you his pet and he has to fight your fights for you, you bitch?"

A feeling of rage rushed through Rex with the burn of boiling water and he almost stepped forward. Only years of living with Six helped Rex read the subtle shifting of Noah's posture—the slight tensing of his shoulders that meant he could handle the big buffoon by himself. Rex stayed back to watch.

The change was almost infinitesimal, practically impossible to notice physically, but the result was shocking. Noah suddenly looked as though he were the one towering over the other, looking down his nose at Kurovsky as though he were nothing more than a piece of dirt that needed to be scraped from the bottom of expensive shoes. "That's the best you could come up with? Claiming that I'm some pet of a person who could kill you in under a second?" Noah scoffed, rolling his eyes. A cold smirk pulled at the corners of the smaller male's lips. "What does that make you, then? The way you were screaming under me last week certainly doesn't say 'man in charge'."

Rex's eyebrows rose as quickly as Kurovsky's fist lashed out, only they didn't punch Noah in the face and send him falling back into the humanoid E.V.O. "What the hell!" Rex shouted, wrapping a steadying arm around Noah's shoulders. He activated his BFS and held it between Noah and Kurovsky, making sure to position himself so that most of him was between the two as well. "Dude, back off," He growled, an angry scowl gracing his face.

Kurovsky made a rude sound in the back of his throat before turning around and storming back to his apartment, slamming the door behind him.

As Rex retracted his large blade and straightened up, Noah stood upright and shook off the taller teenager's arm. A large bruise was already forming on his temple and around his eye. They both knew that it would make a fantastic shiner by the time it fully formed. "What was that all about?" Rex asked, adamantly placing his right hand on Noah's shoulder and escorting him into his apartment, softly closing the door behind them. "Wait, do I want to know?"

Noah snorted in amusement. "It's really not what you think," he replied, turning the lock into place, ignoring Rex's silent insistence to do something about his injury. "He was drunk and trying to break into the apartment. I went at him with a bat and ended up breaking his bottle of vodka. He bawled over the loss for hours."

"Seriously? That's just sad," Rex said, laughing.

"NOAH!" The girl, Grace, shrieked, reminding the two teenagers of the kids that had been arguing this entire time. "Make Ian give back my graham crackers!"

Rex just laughed harder, leaning against the wall to support himself. The blonde shot him a dirty look before he walked from the doorway and towards what was supposedly the living room area. The raven-haired teenager followed him and hung in the doorway, watching.

A boy—about eight years old shot—an irritated look at Noah as he tried keeping a small girl from crawling onto his lap to snag the crumbled remains of a graham cracker from his hand. His shaggy light brown hair dangled in his eyes and wrapped around the frame of his thin-rimmed but large-lensed glasses. "Get her off me before I do something you'll punish me for," he growled, rolling his bulky wheelchair over towards the green-jacketed boy.

Noah sighed before easily scooping the little blonde haired girl into his arms, casually setting her on his hip. "Grace, you know that you already had your graham crackers today," He gently scolded as he used his sleeve to wipe the tears and snot from her round cheeks. "Why are you trying to take your brother's?"

"Be-_hic_-because I'm h-hungrwy and he-he-he wasn't-_hic_-eating them!" Grace hiccupped, fresh tears welling in her eyes.

"You can have my graham crackers, but just for today, okay?" Noah looked back at Rex, nodding him in, before walking through an archway into what the E.V.O. assumed was a kitchen.

Silence pervaded the living space for several moments. Rex awkwardly stood in the doorway, looking everywhere but at the small boy shooting glares at him.

"You need to stop hanging out with Noah."

Rex's head swung around and he locked gazes with Ian. "What? Why?" He asked, trying very hard not to sound accusing. He didn't want to upset who he assumed to be Noah's younger brother—the blonde wasn't old enough to have either of the kids, unless he hit puberty by age eight, something Rex doubted. "If Noah didn't want to hang out with me, I'm pretty sure he'd tell me. And, since he hasn't, he obviously wants to."

"Yeah right," the boy sneered with all the pompousness of a kid raised getting anything he wanted. "That moron wouldn't know what was good for him—or for me and the brat—if it shoved itself up his ass!"

"Don't call him a moron!" Rex snapped just as Noah and Grace walked back into the living room, hand in hand. The little girl had three graham crackers clutched to her chest like a teddy bear, littering crumbs all over her yellow jumper. Noah had an ice-pack placed precariously against the swollen left side of his face.

"Ian said a bad word, Noah!" Grace cried out, releasing Noah's hand to point accusingly at the sour-faced eight-year-old. "He said the a-word! He should be put in time-out!"

"Grace, don't be a tattle-tale," Noah replied distractedly, a resigned look on his face. "Ian, what have I said about cursing in front of your sister?"

The brunette replied by giving the blonde a look at his middle finger. "She isn't my sister any more than you're my brother!" He sniffed. "You don't get to tell me what to do, you bastard!"

Rex didn't think it was possible for Grace's eyes to get any wider. Noah ran a tired hand through his hair. He looked wearier than Rex had ever seen him, but his voice was firm. "Ian, go sit in the corner." Ian stared at him disbelievingly. Noah's gaze hardened. "You heard me, Ian. Go!"

"No!" The newly dubbed stupid brat—in Rex's mind anyway, we assume to Noah he's still just Ian—whined. "I'm not a little kid, Noah!"

Noah's new glare was now Six-worthy and even Rex cowered from it. "So you don't want to sit in the corner?" The blonde asked, slowly stepping towards the younger boy. "You want a big-boy punishment?"

Ian was silent.

"I asked you a question, Ian. It's rude not to answer" Noah stated, standing directly in front of the boy, "and I know that I didn't help raise you so you could be a rude brat. So, what does that mean?"

"…I answer the question?" Ian squeaked, looking all the ready to join the realm of ghosts, his face was so pale.

"Exactly." Noah leaned down until his nose was brushing against his brother's. "Do you still want your big-boy punishment, Ian?"

"Y-yes?" The brunette asked more than said, slouching down in his seat.

"Then, instead of sitting in the corner for twenty minutes and owing all of us an apology, you will go and clean the kitchen as well as the guest bedroom before taking the trash out. After that, you will write formal apologies to Rex, Grace, and myself for your bad behavior. And if I don't think they sound sincere, you'll do it again, and again, until it's good enough." Noah's tone killed any argument before it could sprout. Ian quickly wheeled around him and Grace and into the kitchen before the older teenager could dish out any more punishment.

Rex's eyes were nearly bugging out of his skull while Grace squealed, grin threatening to rip her face in half. "That'll show him!" She cried out, jumping up and down in place. "I told you I was the favorite, Ian!"

"Grace, for trying to take Ian's snacks, making a mess, and being a smug tattletale, you get to sit in the corner for fifteen minutes." He continued, even as the girl gasped disbelievingly and her eyes started to water. "Don't give me that, Grace," He said, voice going from threatening to simply scolding as he remained unaffected by the girl's pout. "There are bits of all graham crackers all over the floor and the couch. You wasted food, and you know how bad it is to do that. And do not get me started on ratting on your brother."

"Fine…" She sighed, slumping over to the corner and sitting in it, looking every bit as forlorn as a dog that had just been yelled at by her master.

"Grace."

"Fine!" She shouted, standing up and scooting closer to the wall, pressing her nose against the corner.

The house finally descended back to the furthest reaches of quiet one gets while living in an apartment building with paper-thin walls. Noah groaned and scratched the side of his head. "Sorry about that," he said, turning his head towards Rex. "Their normal baby-sitter called in, begging for a rain check, so their dad asked if I could watch them. I said I would if he called me in sick for school."

"…That was scary," Rex replied, finally pulling away from the archway he was cowering behind. "Are you sure you're not actually Six in disguise? Not even Holiday is that mean ofr something so trivial."

"If I didn't get away with it when I was their age, _they _certainly aren't going to," Noah snorted humorlessly before flopping bonelessly onto the couch. "They're usually better behaved. I think they were supposed to go to the zoo with Nicole today and I can't afford to take them."

Questions were burning Rex's brain in their attempt to be asked, but Rex tried to ignore them. "Am I going to get a formal introduction, or am I that unimportant?" He teased, throwing the blonde's legs off the couch so he could flop there as well. His eyes travelled around the room, taking in the threadbare carpet that did nothing to keep the floor warm, the plain white walls, and the lack of a TV and furniture. He started as Noah draped his left leg over Rex's lap and his right leg, from knee to ankle, was pressed flush against the E.V.O.'s calf.

A pale hand rose from its place dangling over the side of the couch to wave dismissively in the Hispanic teen's general direction, its owner content with staring at the cracked ceiling. "They know who you are. They've watched the news for hours just to get a glimpse of you beating up some E.V.O. Plus, the first two weeks we were hanging out, I don't think I stopped talking about all the awesome shit I got to do with you." He continued speaking, completely ignoring—or not even noticing—the dark flush that stained Rex's face at being so obviously appreciated. "But if you want introductions, that's fine. Brat numero uno is Ian Warwick, he's eight, and generally a spoiled pain in the ass. The clingy one is Grace Aleistor, she's five, and just a touch hyperactive."

Rex—still tense from the sensation of his friend's limbs shifting ever-so slightly against him—looked over at Grace and could see her practically vibrate in place, even from the other side of the room. His eyebrows tried knitting together in his confusion. "Wait, you have different last nam—"

"We all have the same mom," Noah interrupted, having already guessed Rex's question. "My older brother, Nathan Rylander, he and I had the same dad, but he—"

Rex shot from his reclining position on the couch like a jack-in-the-box. "Rylander?" He asked—more like demanded, face hardened. "As in, Gabriel Rylander?"

"…Yes?" The blonde replied, quirking an eyebrow as he removed the ice-pack and sat up himself, supporting his weight on his right hand. "How do you know him?"

"Know him? Noah, your dad worked on the Nanite Project!"

"I know that, Rex." Both Noah's expression and his voice were carefully blank, as though he were trying to hide something. "He died during the explosion, so I don't see the importance of talking about him."

"Noah…" Rex faltered, scratching the back of his head nervously. He didn't know how to tell his friend that his dad had actually been alive until a little over a month before.

"Why are you so interested, anyway?"

Rex opened his mouth to reply, paused, then self-consciously shut it. Noah's eyes narrowed at the heavy feeling of hesitation he could feel rolling off of the E.V.O. "Rex, what aren't you telling me?"

_No escaping when I start, once I'm in I own your heart~ There's no way to ring the alarm, so hold on until it's over~~_

Next thing Rex knew, he had a lap full of squirming Noah and the remains of an unmanly squeak ringing in his ears. "…Noah?" He nearly squeaked himself once he saw the blonde feeling around the front of his own pants to try and find his phone.

The awkward action lasted barely 10 seconds as Noah's hands trailed from his upper thighs to his knees, but it was long enough for Rex's mouth to completely dry up and make him look away before the near-provocative action could fully register in his mind. A couple more seconds of fidgeting and Noah finally found his phone caught somewhere in his jeans, floating near his right knee. "Sorry about this," he said absently as he straightened his leg and tried to shake the vibrating piece of circuits and plastic out of his pants. "There's a hole in my pocket and the patches never seem to stay."

"Do you—" Rex swallowed, eyes locked on his friend's suddenly long and supple and surprisingly hairless leg. "Do you need help?"

"Nah, I got it."

_Oh! I bet you thought I was soft and sweet. You thought an angel swept you off your feet! But I'm about to turn up the heat. I'm here for your entertainment~_

Noah 'aha-ed' in triumph as he caught his phone as it slid out of his pant-leg and almost tumbled to the floor. "Hello?" He practically chirped, sounding much too cheerful for it to be authentic. Rex wondered if Noah even realized that he was still in the E.V.O.'s lap. Rex certainly knew.

The conversation was mostly one-sided, Rex noticed, as Noah responded with 'Really?s' and 'Yes's and 'No's. A little over thirty seconds later the blonde hung up and turned to Rex. "Well, Nicole can now take over babysitting the little terrors. She'll be back in about ten minutes. You wanna go play basketball after she gets here?"

"…Sure."

"Oh!" There we go, Rex thought as he saw recognition dawn on Noah's face. "Dude, sorry about that!" The blonde immediately crawled to his side of the couch. Surprisingly, there wasn't a drop of embarrassment darkening Noah's ears or cheeks. "I forgot I turned the ringer on and the song scared the shit outta me."

"I'm not blind, or deaf, Noah," Rex replied, forcing his trademark confident smirk back onto his face. "Your girly shriek kinda gave ya away."

That's what brought the blush scurrying to the blonde's face and he scowled, chucking a pillow at the Providence agent. "I did not, you liar!"

"You sounded even girlier than your sister! Speaking of the brat, hasn't it been, like, nearly twenty minutes? She's gonna to kill you."

"Nah," Noah replied confidently, nodding his head in the direction of the suddenly empty corner. "She literally counts the seconds out for herself. Near perfect too. She's just a little bit slower than the clock."

"…Wow," the raven-haired teen replied, shock evident on his face. "You're a family of freaks."

Noah childishly stuck his tongue out at his taller friend, laughing as Rex finally flung the pillow back at him.

They goofed off and spoke of safer topics after the inopportune phone call. Rex didn't answer Noah's question, and Noah didn't press for answers. The raven-haired teen wasn't sure whether it was a sign of trust where the blonde knew that his friend would bring it up later, or if Noah had simply forgotten in the excitement of not having to babysit. Both situations were likely. But Rex would take the reprieve when he could.

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><p>:) Well, this is the end for now, but I shall update as soon as the next one is complete. I will try to add these in a orderly fashion, going from date to date, but if I make a mistake, please feel free to tell me. And don't forget to review, I don't care if it's to complain about how much I suck or if there is something that needs to be changed or rewritten. If there are any errors, yet again please let me know! I want this to be as enjoyable as possible!<p>

This is where I bid you adieu, da?


	2. Sacrifices

Hello, it's me again! I would like to thank everyone who read my story, with an extra thank you to those who reviewed! Thank you soo much! Now, I just have a few words to deliver before we begin. So, this was influenced heavily by a conversation that I am currently having via PMs with the ever-awesome Sirenitie. We were discussing what role Noah might end up having in Generator Rex beyond being the Rex's slice of normalcy, and Sirenitie just _had_ to put this in my head. It was stuck in my head for nearly a week before I had time to actually type it all out.

This means that it is not a part of the actual Learning one-shot series. It is a bonus that I am giving to you know because I do not actually have the first one-shot complete. ^_^'' I have the third one finished, and at least four other ones started, including the first one, but they have had yet to be completed. So, to tide you over, I present this!

Enjoy!

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><p>Rex was seriously starting to hate the fact that his best friend didn't live in Providence HQ. Whenever he wanted to hang out with Noah, he had to call the blonde, or vice versa, since neither Six nor Holiday let Rex get away with his constant sneaking out. While Noah was usually good about answering his calls, whenever he was in the middle of a cram-session he completely ignored all signs of the outside world and locked himself in his basement so everyone thought he wasn't home. Rex had nothing to do and without Noah to give him a reason to sneak out, he was stuck in his room with naught to do but stare at the ceiling. "C'mon, answer," Rex whined, pacing the white-walled room in a meandering path.<p>

"Hello?"

"Dude, Noah, you wanna hang out?"

"Hello?"

Noah's voice as a little heavier than usual, sounding loaded with something that his friend didn't really recognize. "Um, I'm right here, Noah," Rex stated, moving around the couch so that he didn't run into it. "I'm still talking to you."

"Hold on a sec, I can't hear you," Noah replied hurriedly, and it was hard for Rex to hear the blonde—there was a lot of background noise. After a few seconds of silence, Noah said, "Okay, what's up?"

"Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out," Rex said, ceasing his pacing. "I'm bored, there's no missions, so I have time for a couple rounds of—"

The blonde cut Rex off again, saying, "You're going to have to speak louder, my phone's not working right. You sound weird."

Rex aimed a confused look at the wall at Noah's odd comment. Noah had in fact been complaining about his phone the last couple of weeks, but the brunette could have sworn that his friend had told him that his phone was fixed on Wednesday. "Noah, what are you talking about?"

"…Seriously? You're seriously going to do this?" Noah asked, sounding exasperated. "Can't you be mature for once?"

"Do what? I'm not doing anything!" Rex replied defensively, a sharp frown turning down the corners of his lips. "What is up with you today?"

"If you're going to be like that, you can just stick it," Noah snapped, but then his voice suddenly changed to from irritated to cheerful. "You know why? Because this is my answering machine! Leave your angry message after the tone and I'll listen to it as soon as I can! _Danke_!_ Tsch__üs_!~~"

At first, Rex pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it, irritated and a bit confused. A few milliseconds later Noah's odd words words finally registered in his mind for what they were. "Damn it, Noah!" Rex snapped once the long annoying beep sounded off. "This is the third time your answering machine's got me today! Would you answer your damn phone? Call me back or I'm gonna break into your house!" With that being said, or yelled in this case, the Hispanic teen angrily punched the 'End Call' button and flounced to his couch, crossing his arms childishly. "Stupid Noah and his stupid answering machine," he mumbled, pouting hardcore and looking for all like an overgrown three year old.

"Oh, did you get tricked by Noah's answering machine again?" Holiday asked innocently, a sickeningly concerned look on her face as she peeked through the teenager's open door. She silently giggled as Rex tipped to the right so that he was lying stiffly on his side, arms still crossed and pout still in place. "Well, things have been relatively quiet the past few days and I don't need you for any tests right now, so I'm sure Six will let you go see Noah even if you can't get a hold of him."

With that Rex shot up like an excited puppy being told he could run around outside. "Really?" He asked, metaphorical tail wagging like mad. "You think so?"

"Well, since your boredom already led you to filling all of Six's shoes with shaving cream and replacing BoBo's deodorant with cream cheese, I'm pretty sure you'll want to be out of HQ before they decide to kill you," Holiday replied, leaning casually against the doorframe, clipboard still in hand and being craftily used to hide her victorious grin.

"…What are you talking about?" Rex asked, eyebrows furrowed as he tried understanding her sentence. "I've been in here pretty much all morning. I never—"

"**REX**!" Aforementioned boy flinched at the enraged bellow that could only belong to Six, even if the pale brunette had never sounded so angry before in the time Rex knew him. It was even louder than most infuriated shouts, because Six's room was at least five minutes walking distance away from Rex's room. For those who may not understand, that's like hearing your neighbor from a block and a half away shouting at someone. Logically, Rex and Holiday shouldn't even be able to hear him, but they could and that showed just how bad things were for Rex.

Then the Hispanic's situation had to get that much worse when they heard loveable but easily angered talking monkey BoBo Haha screeching an answering, "**CHIEF**!" from much closer. If Rex had flinched at Six's voice then he nearly became the youngest person to die of a heart attack without any health complications at the rage he could hear in the simian's voice.

"…You should probably go," Holiday advised in a sagely voice, barely containing her giggles at the near-terrified look on her young charge's face. "Don't worry, I'll distract them until you're out of Providence."

"Thanks Holiday!" Rex replied hurriedly as he practically leapt off the couch and bolted through the doorway the dark-haired doctor had wisely vacated. Once the teenager was gone, Holiday allowed herself to collapse in hysterics, giggling incessantly and snickering like a madwoman as she wobbled through the halls back to her lab. She couldn't be caught in Rex's room or it would seriously look as if she were actually helping the boy instead of pinning her revenge-fuelled pranks on him. Well, it's not as if people would actually figure out it was her, since the pranks were so simple and so _beneath_ her superior intelligence. But still, being caught simply wouldn't do. The very thought made her fall into another fit of wheezy chuckles.

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><p>The flight to Noah's home was short, shorter than usual because Rex was pulling as much speed from his engines as he could. When he arrived, the door was securely locked and the thick white curtains were pulled tight across the windows, helping spark the image that Noah's house was a piece of the sky that had fallen to Earth and allowed someone live in it. There were no signs that someone was home, or that someone lived there other than the nicely mown yard. "I don't know why he does this," Rex muttered to himself good naturedly as he searched around Noah's doorstep for the fake rock he knew held the blonde's spare key. "Hey, Noah," Rex called once he had the door unlocked, keeping his eyes on the key as he tried dislodging it from the deadbolt. "When are you going to come out of the dark you freaking vam…pire…" He trailed off as he finally looked up and realized why it was so quiet.<p>

Noah's normally spotless living room was completely destroyed. The couch that was normally perpendicular to the bar counter now laid halfway outside, lying in a pile of glass and missing its cushions and most of the shape of a couch. The gray fabric of a stuffingless cushion clung to the only standing stool, but even using the word standing was an over-exaggeration. The supporting bar was horridly bent and the back of the seat was nearly touching the ground. Every other stool was tossed around the room, putting holes in walls and leaving scratches in the pretty beige carpet and the equally nice wooden floor beneath it. Lying amongst the crushed remains of the bar-counter was the fridge, food and coolant littering the remains along with the stuffing of the couch cushions. He stumbled further into the house and saw that the destruction encompassed most of the upstairs. There were sea foam green crystals embedded in the walls and floor near the destroyed glass door that led outside, Noah's mattress and bed sheets were ripped to shreds, decorating what Rex could see of the missing blonde's bedroom and the hallway leading to it. The bedroom door lay on the ground in front of the bathroom, and the bathroom door was hanging by half a hinge, looking ready to fall to pieces if someone so much as breathed on it. But what really struck Rex in the gut was the small but numerous puddles of blood that stained the carpet, floors and any other fabric that may have been in the area.

Only someone seriously injured but attempting to escape something could have left those bloody handprints on the wall. Those blood splatters on the remains of the bedroom door and the different spots all over the house had to have been from a body being tossed about like a ragdoll.

With a gasp Rex backed away from the doorway, eyes wide with horror at the sight. Fumbling fingers tried to pull his phone from his pants pocket but dropped the piece of plastic in his haste. Frantically he picked it up and hit speed-dial 6. (We'll give you three guesses as to whose number it is. The first two don't count) Before the other person could even speak once the call was picked up Rex began a word-vomit of epic proportions. "Iknowyou'repissedbecausesomeone putstuffinyourshoesbutIdidn'tdoit! IwenttoseeNoahandhisfront doorwaslocked andhiscurtainwerepulledshut justliketheynormallyare! ButwhenIopenedthedoor theplacewascompletelytrashed andthere'sbloodeverywhereandIdon'tknowwhereNoahis!"

"Rex," Six tried to interject, but he was interrupted.

"There'sbloodalloverthehouse onthewallsandthefloor andhisbackdoorisdestroyed! Whowoulddosomething likethisSix? Sixyou'vegottagetdown hereandhelpmefindhim! Sopleasepleasplease—"

"REX!"

The Hispanic teen managed to stop himself, a heavy gasp tearing its way down his throat. "Y-yeah?"

"Repeat yourself. _Calmly_," Six stated, voice completely level. "I'm on my way now—"

Through his phone Rex could hear the sirens suddenly start going off in Providence. "Six, what's going on over there?" He asked, fear for his friend causing his voice to rise nearly two octaves.

"I'm not sure yet, Rex," Six replied, sounding a bit distracted. "I'll just—"

"H-hold on," Rex interrupted, pulling his vibrating phone from his ear to see that Holiday was calling him. "Holiday's calling and I'm putting her on too."

"Rex?" Holiday said, her voice coming from Six's phone as well as Rex's. "You need to return to Providence immediately."

"But Holiday, Noah—"

"I agree with Dr. Holiday," Six added, speaking louder to be heard over the suddenly loud voices in the background. "Van Kleiss just sent a video to HQ for you."

"What?"

"Please, Rex, it'll make sense once you get here."

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><p>Six and Holiday watched, one impassively and the other with motherly concern while Rex let loose another rageful bellow and used his Smackhands to put a hole in one of the many screens showing Van Kleiss's rather smug face. Fortunately they had already muted the volume or there would have been more than just broken televisions and lab screens. "Why do we keep letting him get away with breaking things?" Six asked idly with a slightly raised eyebrow.<p>

"Now is not the time for that!" Holiday snapped with a chocolate-brown glare in Six's direction before turning a motherly gaze back on Rex. "Now, Rex, I know that you're upset, but you need to cal—"

"Don't you _dare_ tell me to calm down when my best friend is in the clutches of Providence's biggest threat!" Rex howled, his hands returned to normal so that he could pull on his hair. "Wait, there was _blood_ at Noah's house…" If the two adults thought Rex had been enraged then there were or are no words able to describe the burning feelings that clawed at the teenager's insides at the thought of Noah lying in a heap on his living room floor with gaping wounds and thick, sticky rivers of blood staining his carpet a sickening scarlet and leaving his skin paler than was natural…"_That son of a **bitch**_!" Rex shrieked, his vision being tainted with that red haze that only infuriated him even more. With newly created Punkbusters he spun on one foot and punted the broken, sparking monitor from its place on the wall and sent it flying through the air and across the room, scattering Providence agents who were previously too shocked by Rex's rage to vacate the area.

"Rex, you need to stop and calm down," Six sighed, standing straight from his comfortable spot leaning against the wall. "Destroying our equipment isn't going to help you get Noah back."

Those words seemed to do the trick and Rex finally started to show signs of restraining himself, if the overly deep breaths and the shaking fists were any indications. "That fucking son of a _bitch_," the brunette hissed again, snarling at the silent image showing his blonde friend dangling from Van Kleiss's lackey Biowulf's grip. With small rivets of blood trailing down from the shallow cuts in his wrist—injuries courtesy of his struggling and Biowulf's bladelike fingers—and blonde hair wild in some places and others flat with caked blood, Noah was a true sight to see. He was shouting something at the pale E.V.O-man as he flailed his body to and fro, especially his legs, in an attempt to wiggle away. It wasn't known what the blonde had said, it couldn't have been heard even if the sound was on, but whatever he was saying was enough to earn a backhanded slap from the dastardly Van Kleiss. Impudently Noah spat the blood that had been drawn in the villain's gaunt face. That was where the video ended and was automatically started over from the beginning. The Hispanic teen felt a savage grin contort his face from seeing the fight his friend still had in him.

"Look, Rex, we need to think of a plan to rescue Noah," Holiday said, carefully walking through the spilled shards of glass that reminded Rex all too much of the horrid abduction scene he had seen at his blonde's house.

"No we don't," Rex butted in, a frown now on his face. "We already know what to do to get him back."

"You don't really plan to let Van Kleiss remove your nanites, do you?" Holiday demanded, slamming the palms of her hand on the only safe place on the steel table. "You're just going to get yourself and Noah killed if you do that!"

"But we can't just send an army to Abysus," Six interjected, his own customary frown enunciated by the honorless actions Van Kleiss had pulled. "We have less than three hours before Van Kleiss just kills Noah, which is nowhere near long enough to gather enough troops to storm the Stronghold, and there's no way we can sneak in and sneak out with all of E. he has guarding the place without a distraction."

"Don't tell me you agree with this nonsense!" Holiday gasped, looking outraged. "There is no way that that bastard would let Rex and Noah just _walk out_ when he's done! He's going to kill them both so that you don't get in his way in the future!"

"Not if I make him promise to let Noah go," Rex reasoned with a dark tone coating his words, running a harsh hand through his hair, yanking off his goggles. "Besides, he has the vendetta against us, not Noah."

"No," Six stated firmly, crossing his arms over his chest. "Do you really think Noah would want you to kill yourself for him? He's known that being a part of what we stand for could be trouble. He's just as willing as the rest of us to—"

"Shut up!" The tan brunette snapped, glaring daggers at the calm man. "I'm not going to let Noah or any of you die for me. Not now, not ever! I'm not worth it! Holiday is smart enough to come up with a cure for E. without me."

"We are not discussing this right now," Holiday whispered, looking paler than usual and more than a little drained "We need to focus on rescuing Noah without anyone dying, do you all understand?" With a weary look at the two that pulled at the males' heartstrings, she managed a small, hollow, near invisible victory grin. "Alright, we already know the layout of the Pack's Stronghold, from when you visited last time…"

It was hard to believe that the day had started off with annoying voicemail messages and fun, gross pranks from an unlikely source.

* * *

><p>When Rex calmly walked through the large doorway to the throne room of the Pack's Stronghold, flanked on each side by some nameless wormlike E. under Van Kleiss's control, he couldn't hold back a smirk after seeing the injuries on the two mostly-humanoid E.. Van Kleiss had a dark, painfully looking black eye that was so swollen that the pale man could barely open the eye more than a crack, while there were a few claw marks on his right cheek, peeking from the man's collar, and two of his human fingers were bandaged together. Breach was a bit worse for wear—she looked as if someone had thrown a wet cat at her. There were more than a few places where bandages had to be applied and she too had a multitude of bruises. One of her overly large extra arms was actually hung in a sling against the thin girl's chest. Breach would not be much help in anything but escapes for a bit.<p>

The small smirk died once his brown eyes shifted around the group and landed on his friend. Noah was in worse shape than he had been for the ransom video, with several more bruises on his face, throat and arms, and hints of thin welts hiding behind the edges of the blonde's T-shirt like shy children. There was dried blood crusted in scattered clumps in his shaggy hair, on the boy's temple, and a thick trail down his cheek and his throat. Still more blood was on his person with a few disconcerting stains on Noah's shirt and one unusually large one on the outside of his left thigh, near his knee. He was currently being guarded by Biowulf, who had one hand around the blonde's throat and the other keeping Noah's hands tightly pinned behind his back. "You said you wouldn't hurt him if we did what you said," Rex snarled, gloved hands creaking with the force he used in curling his hands into fists.

"Well, young Noah was being a tad…uncooperative," Van Kleiss said easily, waving his human hand dismissively. "Weren't you, Noah?"

"Screw you, kidfucker," Noah spat, ignoring the way Biowulf's hand instinctively tightened around the blonde's throat at the insult to his master. He didn't wince as the E. blade-like fingers sliced into his flesh and draw thin rivets of blood, near-matching the dried pathways that slowly flaked from his forearms every time he shifted under Biowulf's restraining hands. "Can't even fight fair, cock-sucking—"

The E.V.O wolf-man consciously increased his grip and cut off the rest of the blonde's insult as well as his air supply and Rex took another threatening step forward, creating a Smackhand to use if it came down to a fistfight. "At ease, Biowulf, Rex" Van Kleiss deadpanned, holding his hands up in a calming motion. Reluctantly Biowulf released the blonde's throat. Noah sucked in great gasping breaths, his head hanging so far his chin bumped his heaving chest every other breath. If anyone bothered to watch they could see how he refused to lean back against the creature as his legs wobbled. "Since you can't seem to control your temper, Biowulf," the pale man continued, scowling lightly, "please give our guest to Skalamander."

"Like hell he's your guest!" Rex snapped, eyes darting between the near-intimidating man and the blonde that was digging his heels into the cement floor in an attempt to keep from having to stand close to the drooling dinosaur E.V.O. "Are you going to hold your end of the bargain or not?"

"Of course, Rex," Van Kleiss drawled, sounding as if he were attempting to sound soothing, but only succeeding in sending disturbing shivers down both teenager's spines. "I never go back on a promise—"

"Fuck that!" Noah interrupted, managing to wiggle his way out of Biowulf's grip without having the sharp metal fingers cutting any major arteries, removing a limb or an appendage. Before the other two E.V.O minions could react, Noah pulled a small but dangerously sharp piece of green crystal from his left pants pocket. The crystal could belong to nothing or no one but Skalamander. Using everyone's surprise to his advantage Noah lunged at Van Kleiss who had whipped around to see what the blonde was doing. "No one uses me as a fucking hostage, you pedophilic bastard!" The injured teenager shouted, using both hands and his body's weight to drive the crystal into the villain's forehead. The little green crystal, barely the length of the pencil, pierced the flesh, the skull, and drilled the very tip of the makeshift weapon into the man's Nanite-rich brain.

The effect was instantaneous. Van Kleiss stumbled a few steps back, looking shocked before falling to the ground like a top-heavy sack of potatoes. Noah had stumbled over one of Van Kleiss's legs and only just managed to keep on his feet as Biowulf, Skalamander, and Rex all leapt towards the two. Rex managed to get his BFS in between Noah and the enraged man-wolf E.V.O, but that didn't stop any of the crystal projectiles that the giant living fossil E.V.O launched at Noah, who was standing at a different angle. Several of the smaller ones barely grazed the blonde's wiry form, but a particularly large on made itself home in the flesh of the boy's back, then quickly bid adieu as it completely passed through, leaving a bloody hole in Noah's midsection. A few of the smaller ones also pierced Noah's back, but the one lodging in the back of the knee was what sent Noah down to meet the floor face-to-face. But even then the only sounds Noah released were a hissed "Fuck!" and a pained grunt as he hit the ground. Rex didn't hear either, though. He was too busy forcing Biowulf back, away from the prone Van Kleiss so that the pale man couldn't be swept off further into the Stronghold and able to be a threat to everyone in the building.

That's when everything started happening, all at once. A small force of Providence Agents—a group that Six had led into the Stronghold while Rex was supposed to have been keeping Van Kleiss and the others busy—burst through the large set of doors and opened fire on the unprepared E.. There were only ten or twelve soldiers, but that was more than enough to potentially overcome two E. of average size. Skalamander immediately turned fire from the blonde lying unceremoniously on the ground to the soldiers who were a more pressing problem than revenge. Van Kleiss's face was twisted into a horrid mask of rage and hate as he pushed himself upright, wandering fingers shaking too much to be able to pry the small crystal from his skull. Rex managed a final swing at Biowulf before the creature backed off and went to attack the other agents that were trying to trap Breach. The retreat—for lack of a better word—gave Rex the opportunity to turn towards the Pack's leader, who had wobbily made his way to his feet. "How do you like these negotiations, Van Kleiss?" Rex demanded, taking a hard step forward so that he could get a good swing at the freak of nature.

"Things still work in my favor!" Van Kleiss retorted, grabbing what little he could of the green crystal and breaking it of where it was still visible. The tan brunette felt a bit nauseated as he watched ashen skin grow over the wound, temporarily trapping the crystal in the villain's skull, where at a later time Van Kleiss would cut the offending rock out. "I told you that if you didn't cooperate then your friend would pay the price!"

"What?" Rex had completely forgotten about that. He immediately turned away from Van Kleiss, who was still too overwhelmed with having some teenager stab him in the freaking _brain_ to be a threat to anyone and scanned the rapidly shifting battlefield for a splash of blonde, but with the agents swarming the throne where he, Noah and the other Pack members had been standing it was impossible.

"Rex, grab Noah and head for the plane!" Six shouted over the sounds of the battle, briefly appearing and locking swords with Biowulf, who had been just about to sink his claws into Noah's defenseless body. The blonde had rolled onto his side and had his fingers lightly woven in the blood-soaked fabric of his T-shirt, over the large wound in his stomach.

Time almost literally stopped for Rex when he saw his friend lying there so bonelessly, so _lifelessly_ in a pool of his own blood and surrounded by shards of sea foam green. His gazed honed in on the several pieces that were imbedded in that suddenly small, _fragile_ back, ignoring the triumphant look on Van Kleiss's face. Though the man really had no right to act all smug and superior, since his E.V.O henchmen had been unable to keep a hold of a single normal human boy and Van Kleiss himself hadn't been able to stop the blonde from dealing him what would have been a fatal blow to any other person.

"**_NOAH_**!"

The single word tore its way out of his vocal cords so loud and so harsh that it only enunciated the pain he felt as an invisible blade stabbed the Hispanic teen in the lungs and twisted 480 degrees. He raced to Six's side and nervous hands flitted over Noah's form, afraid that even a single touch would spark even more pain than his friend seemed to already be. "Six, what do I do?" Rex asked, momentarily resorting to simply wiping blood from Noah's face with feather-light touches. "Do I take the crystals out or leave them in?"

"Leave them in," Six replied quickly, each word enunciated by a sword strike against the wolf-E.V.O with enough force to force the creature to give up ground. "He'll bleed out even faster if you remove them."

"B-bleed out?" Rex's voice was much too high and childish for the brunette to even attempt to sound like his normal confident self. "But I don't have—" Rex's words were cut off by a light hand wrapping around his wrist.

Noah gazed up at Rex with blue eyes so hazy it was almost idiotic to think that the blonde could actually see anything. The blood staining his hands smeared onto Rex's jacket-sleeve, darkening the fire truck red fabric a darker scarlet. But, before either teenager could say anything, Noah's eyes slipped shut and his grip relaxed, falling down to bounce onto his left shoulder.

"Hey, don't fall asleep!" Rex demanded, moving his hand to shake his friend's shoulder. Blue eyes cracked open, and stayed that way this time. But that meant nothing in the long run, since they were unfocused and staring off into space. The blonde was still breathing, taking in and releasing just enough air to show he wasn't dead. That normally healthy skin was paler than Providence's uniforms, the areas around the corners of those eyes was pinched up in pain, and the warmth Rex was used to feeling when touching the blonde wasn't there. All he felt was soft, squishy ice. "D-don't worry, Noah," He croaked, ignoring the burning in his eyes and the aching in his chest in order to whisper to the unresponsive teen, "we're gonna get you to H-Holiday and the other doctors and you're going to be just f-fine."

But Noah didn't reply. He didn't give a faint smirk at the delusional statement like his character would have if this had been a movie. He didn't remark about how pathetic Rex sounded as he scooped the blonde boy up as gently as he could and raced behind some Providence agents, following them towards whatever jet or plane they had used to arrive. He didn't even attempt to use his right hand to give Rex's arm another faint squeeze to show he was still awake and coherent. All that happened was he rolled lifelessly into Rex's embrace and puffed the barest of breaths against Rex's collar, small but oh so significant signs that he was still alive.

As the agents turned back and left the way they had come—abruptly and with no warning—Biowulf and Skalamander made a move to follow, but were stopped by the golden hand of their master. "Leave them be, gentlemen," Van Kleiss said, smug smile firmly in place.

"But Master—" Biowulf began but cut himself off after seeing the warning look shot his way by the pale man, though his expression never changed.

"Don't worry so much, Biowulf. We've dealt young Rex a great blow today. I'm sure that he will take quite a long time to recover," He stated almost giddily, the pained and horrified voice the teenager spoke with as he clung to his friend was still ringing so deliciously in Van Kleiss's ears.

* * *

><p>Six had finally caught up and was now leading Rex back to the plane. He glanced back every few seconds, just as worried as the Hispanic teen for Noah's well-being. None of the agents were injured and hadn't expected to have been injured, so there were no simple first-aid kits to be used to attempt to staunch the blonde's bleeding. "Turn right up ahead, then take the third corridor to the left!" Six shouted to the agents ahead of him. He was keeping close to Rex so that the teenager would have someone to focus on besides Noah and his dangerous condition. The teenager was losing too much blood too quickly, and taking in the numerous injuries that he had already taken while retaliating against Van Kleiss— No, Six told himself with a slightest shake of his head. He had to focus on leading Rex and his cargo to safety. …But he had to force himself to a halt after turning a corner and realizing that the tan brunette had stopped. "Rex, we have to get back to the plane. He needs medica—"<p>

"Noah, Noah you have to wake up," Rex whimpered, completely ignoring Six since he was busy supporting the blonde's lolling head with his right shoulder. A gloved hand was gently patting Noah's ice cold cheek in an attempt to wake him up. The brunette had fallen to his knees in the middle of a random corridor of the Pack's Stronghold. Rex had decided that he _needed_ to see the blonde's breathtakingly blue eyes staring up at him at least once more before he could continue. But while he was racing after Six and risked a quick look down at his blonde's face, those eyes were shut. And now, here he was. All he wanted was to see those eyes again, lit up with a shimmer of amusement and lightly crinkled at the corners with a matching grin.

The faint puffs of air that had been hitting his neck were no longer there. "C'mon Noah, this isn't funny."

But Noah didn't respond because Noah wasn't there anymore. The blonde spitfire that made fun of Rex's crappy jokes and plotted with the Hispanic teen and his monkey sidekick on how to prank Six for ending their pizza run early wasn't the blonde lying in Rex's arms like a broken doll. All that was left was the empty shell that had held the quick-witted mind of arguably the most important person in Rex's life. The realization started to sink in and Rex felt something in him shatter. All there was to do was throw his head back and let loose one of those most heartbreaking wails that you ever heard, putting those hammy actors in those Spanish soap operas Noah hated(but watched because his best friend loved them)to shame.

All he could do was pull that rapidly cooling body closer and cry, sob, _beg_ into a bloodstained T-shirt while trying to wrap his grief-stricken mind around the fact that Noah Nixon was dead.

* * *

><p>I would like to thank you all again for your enormous amounts of patience(even though I don't believe I mentioned that neither this nor Meeting the Family v1 weren't actually part of the series), and I shall update as soon as possible!<p>

_Tschus!_


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